The City of DeLand is proud to recognize a number of outstanding community members who have dedicated their time and effort helping to make DeLand a better place. 

At the March 17 commission meeting, the city announced the recipients of the city’s Volunteer of the Year awards with Aaron Preston receiving the Volunteer of the Year under 40 and Georgia Carter Turner was named overall Volunteer of the Year.

“Our volunteers are at the heart of our community,” said Mayor Chris Cloudman. “The dedication of our residents like Aaron, Georgia and the nominees are what make our city so special. Congratulations to everyone on the recognition.”

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟎 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲: 𝐀𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧

Aaron Preston was nominated alongside several stellar individuals – Jaclyn Carrell, Mark Higbee, Marie Johnson and Gary Levesque.

A native of Lake Helen, Aaron Preston has dedicated most of his youth and adult life to serving his community, He has been involved in several organizations including the Teen Center, Blake Memorial Baptist Church, West Volusia Neighborhood Center and eventually the Rotary Club of Downtown DeLand.

In 2021, he bought a home in DeLand with his soon to be wife, Stephanie, and started focusing his efforts on his new town. Aaron's passion is people, collecting stories and friends through service, food or a glass of wine downtown. He loves to travel, cook, participate in local government, ride his bike or work out at the Y. 

Early on Aaron found himself couch surfing, living in a storage unit and eventually his car while he was in college and as a result homelessness - hits very close to home. His greatest passion will always be helping those that sometimes need a hand up.

𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐚 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫

Georgia Turner was nominated for the overall Volunteer of the Year award along with Ann-Marie Willacker.

With over 40 years of experience in journalism, public relations, marketing and sales. Since December 2016, she has been the Executive Director of the West Volusia Tourism Advertising Authority, where she is responsible for developing marketing and advertising programs to increase tourism in the 14 communities in West Volusia County, Florida.

Georgia held marketing and public relations positions at several Destination Marketing Organizations in Florida and Alabama before landing in West Volusia. She also owned and operated Georgia Turner Group, a full-service marketing and communications agency specializing in the travel and tourism industry for 10 years. 

A graduate of Auburn University with a degree in journalism, she worked at her hometown newspaper and an airline magazine in Atlanta before her career in tourism began.

Today, she is a member and past Chair of the Southeast Tourism Society (STS) as well as a member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). She is also a member of the FPRA Volusia/Flagler chapter and was a recipient of the chapter’s Roger Pynn Great Communicator of the Year Award in 2024. 

In her spare time, Georgia enjoys craft beer, NASCAR races and yoga!

Georgia and Aaron will be honored a second time at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 24 as we unveil their plaques on our walk of fame, which is located on the northwest side of the Woodland Boulevard and New York Avenue.